Although they look like alien beings right out of a (low-budget) horror film with huge, dagger-like teeth, enormous mouths, and their own lights, many of the deep-sea creatures we feature in the exhibition can be found in the deep, perpetually dark waters right off shore from our major cities, such as the Hudson Canyon near New York City and the San Diego Trough off of southern California. To collect these bizarre creatures, we tow a special net behind a boat far below the surface, an important method of collection not just for fishes, but for all kinds of invertebrates, and one that’s allowed us to learn more about the ocean’s inhabitants than any other technique. Once we retrieve the net from the depths, we sort and photograph the still-glowing catch on board. These images show some of the extraordinary deep-sea creatures we collected on a recent expedition off of southern California.

Advances of modern cosmology such as dark matter, dark energy, and the drama of cosmic evolution have given us a completely new picture of the universe. In this podcast from the fall, join Joel Primack, a professor of physics at the University of California, Santa Cruz and cultural philosopher Nancy Ellen Abrams as they explain the new universe and relate it to life here on Earth.

This podcast was recorded at the Hayden Planetarium on November 14, 2011.

The Wall Street Journal recently hosted a video segment at the Museum’s Rose Center for Earth and Space. Watch the clip below to hear Department of Astrophysics Chair and Curator Mordecai-Mark Mac Low explain the science behind the Northern Lights and their relation to the Sun.

When night falls on Thursdays at the Museum, a group of people carrying sketchpads and charcoal enters the doors and heads to the animal halls. For over 30 years, Stephen C. Quinn, an artist in the Museum’s Exhibition Department and an expert on dioramas, has led a special evening course on Animal Drawingthat teaches students the art of drawing nature using the Museum’s famous dioramas and displays. This spring’s session will begin on Thursday, March 15. Below, Quinn answers a few questions about the course.

In early January, the Museum posted a Science Bulletin showing humpback whales and bottlenose dolphins apparently at play in the wild. Off the coast of Hawaii, whales repeatedly lifted dolphins from the ocean and let them slide down their heads back into the water. If you haven’t already, watch the viral video below, which recently reached 1.5 million views on YouTube.

Science Bulletins is a production of the National Center for Science Literacy, Education, and Technology (NCSLET), part of the Department of Education at the Museum. Click here to learn more.